Monday's warm-up turned out to be another cruel joke played by Mother Nature this winter.

Freeport hit a high of 41 degrees, a drastic difference from the below-zero temperatures the region posted a week ago.

A vigorous Alberta Clipper system is to blame for this latest shift, said Dan Ferry, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service Quad-Cities office in Davenport, Iowa. The NWS defines that as a low-pressure system that's common during winter and usually comes with light snow, strong winds and lower temperatures.

Snow is likely to slow the morning commute Tuesday. One to 2 inches of accumulation is expected throughout the day, possibly more in outlying areas.

Temperatures are expected to fall starting in the afternoon, and the wind will pick up, causing blowing snow in some areas as gusts reach 30 to 40 mph.

Ferry said the temperature will be about 10 degrees Tuesday night, and we probably won't make it out of the teens Wednesday. We could get more snow Thursday.

Friday and Saturday's temperatures could hang in the single digits, with a morning wake-up of 3 degrees forecast for Saturday.

January is likely to be a month of lower-than-average temperatures in the region, and snow has covered the ground since early December.